If you’re heading to Maryland this week, Michelle and I would love to meet you! We’d also love to hand out some WTW swag while we’re at it, so we decided to make a game of it.
Michelle and I will be decked out in some kind of WTW stuff at all times – hat, jacket, shirt, something that identifies us – and posting pics on our Instagram stories of where we are throughout the day for each day of the show. If you spot us, come say hi and pick out some WTW swag to take home with you! We’ve got towels, bags, decals, hats – all kinds of fun stuff.
is that holo? yes.
glitter? indeed.
We’ll be posting updates on my instagram stories (breedridevent) as well as the willowtreewarmbloods instagram stories. Play a little game of where’s WTW and get a reward – easy peasy.
Continuing on with our Glamour Shots series that started last week with Teddy, this week it’s Patrick’s turn!
Patticakes, oh, Patticakes. This big dude is turning into one seriously handsome young man, even when he goes through some awkward growthy phases. He’s good-looking, smart, and bold… what more could you want? Well, maybe he could have taken a little longer to gray out so much – he wasted no time turning into a steel gray. He’ll look a lot like his handsome dad soon, though! Patrick has been a fan favorite this year for sure, and it’s easy to see why.
The voting for Fan Favorite for the 2021 US Event Horse Futurity is officially open! Presto would love to have your vote, if he’s your favorite. All you have to do is comment his name on their facebook post, easy peasy. One voter from the winning Fan Favorite horse will also win a Futurity hat, and who doesn’t like free hats?
As usual, comments and shares are considered entries for my Presto’s Favorite Things contest. I’m also working on putting together something as a small token of thank you to all of you guys that have supported his journey in the Futurity this year (and all along throughout his whole life, really). More on that when I get all the details ironed out!
I’m also working on putting together an In the Blood post for both the YEH horses and the Maryland 5* horses, to run next week while I’m away, as requested. I don’t even want to tell you how many hours I spent finding all the info on the YEH horses. It’s fun to look through though, we’ve really got some nicely bred, quality youngsters in the pipeline.
As for the Noodle, he arrived in California yesterday but earlier this week he banged his foot pretty good in turnout so we’re not sure yet if he’ll actually get to run this weekend at Woodside or not. Fingers crossed he’s looking better today!
I’ve spent a lot of time bitching about breeches over the past few months but I think I’ve finally got things mostly ironed out, so I figured I’d update on which ones I’ve landed on and how they’re working out. I also have a white breeches version of this coming up soon (Luxe EQ to the rescue with that particular conundrum), but for today I’m sticking with the everyday schooling ones.
I’ve got the collection back up to 5 pairs, which seems to be about the right amount. Not excessive, but enough to where I can cover a range of colors and styles. They also range in price, when purchased new anyway, from $40 to $380. So I’m gonna go through and rank them, compare them, and totally play favorites. They might not end up how you think. Here are the players:
Equiline Boston
Horze Aubrey
Montar Megan
Quur Cardie
Baleaf… uh… “riding pants”?
Winner winner chicken dinner goes to the Quur Cardie, which you probably haven’t even heard of.
that one time I had a big mirror at a hotel
Yeah I’m surprised too. I tossed these in my Epplejeck cart on a whim, mostly because I wanted a pair of burgundy breeches and these were the best looking option of the cheaper ones. Regular price is around $100 once VAT is removed, but I got them during a sale for around $85. They call the color “purple” on their website but it’s definitely merlot, which is what I was going for. They also advise that these run a little small, so I was a bit scared about that, but I threw my regular size in anyway (US 28 = Euro 40) and just crossed my fingers. Quur is a brand that as far as I can tell exists only through Epplejeck so I had absolutely no idea what to expect.
Right out of the bag you could tell that they were styled after Equiline, specifically (IMO) the Equiline Ash. They have some of the same finish details, like the little black triangle on the thigh and the metal square branding above one front pocket. I also have a hunch that this is why they run a little small – Equiline do as well. There are some key differences though, especially with the fabric (the Quur are a stretchier tech fabric that almost has a slight compression feel to it) and the fact that these are actually silicone full seat. I was also hesitant of that but there’s not much grip to the silicone so they definitely don’t make me feel stuck.
I think they’re pretty flattering
They’re super comfortable, I love the cut, they fit pretty much perfectly (I’m on the smaller side of a regular 28 so that makes sense), and the waistband doesn’t gap when I’m riding. There’s also silicone inside the waistband to help keep tucked-in shirts in place, and four real pockets (I mean they aren’t deep but they’re real). I could take or leave the rose gold detailing but it does make them look a little more expensive. Really though, these could cost twice as much and I’d still like them a lot. My only complaint is that there aren’t more color options that I want.
My second favorite is a bit of a toss-up but would probably be the Horze Aubrey.
Like all Horze breeches these run big, so I sized down to 26. The fabric on these is thinner, a good summer weight, and the pockets are so deep I could pack a lunch in there. There are pros and cons to that though… I can easily and securely fit my phone, but the thin fabric plus big pocket means that there’s a pretty massive lumpy pocket outline on your leg. It bothers me a little, but not a lot. Your annoyance at that may vary. These are a bit higher waisted than the Quur Cardie, which I do like when I’m just walking around, but it makes the waistband gap at the top when I’m in the saddle unless I cinch a belt tight AF, which drives me batty. Again, your annoyance at that may vary.
Still though, they’re stretchy and comfy and I like the silver piping, so the pros outweigh the cons. The color options on these suck too, but the price is good. Normally they’re $110 but I’ve seen them on sale a few places, and RW has them for $90 in some sizes.
Next, but very very close in rank to the Aubrey, I’d put up the Montar Megan, which are actually really similar to the Horze, hence why they rank pretty much even for me.
These run true to size, so I got a EU 40, although the fabric is REALLY stretchy so if you’re in between sizes I would go down. When I sat the Horze 26 on top of these, the waists were pretty much the same size, but the Montar had a bit more room in the hip/thigh. The fabric is a bit thicker than the very lightweight Horze (and thus perhaps a bit more flattering), but otherwise they are very similar. The pockets are a more normal depth – deep enough for a phone but not a lunch – and it has the same higher waisted cut in the back. Which… also gaps on me when I’m in the tack, even with a belt. The only reason I put these slightly below the Horze is because I do wish these fit just a little bit smaller and more snug in the waist on me.
These are also silicone full seat, but like the Quur it’s not got much grip to it so I don’t notice it. They’re a little bit pricier at $115ish but I paid about $90 on sale from Epplejeck. Montar does have a nice range of color options with these, which is nice.
The next two pairs are a bit interchangeable for me as far as how much I like them, which is kind of ironic considering they’re the cheapest and the most expensive of the bunch.
The Baleaf breeches (the ones from Amazon) are $40 so you really can’t complain much about that. The fabric is fine, the fit is fine, the comfort is fine, they wash up well… like there is probably no better bargain to be found at that price point. Do I love them as much as the Quur or the Horze or the Montar? No. Which is fair. They don’t have some of the features I like most about those, they’re very basic, and the fabric is obviously cheaper. My only real complaint about them though is that the Small is slightly big on me and they do stretch out as you wear them, so they end up being a little baggy. I’d probably never reach for them for a lesson or anything “public” but I do wear them plenty at home.
The final pair is the Equiline Boston, which I bought at a steep discount from someone on facebook mostly just because I was desperate for green breeches again. If I’d paid the $380 retail price for them I’d be super annoyed, but it was more like $110 so… I don’t hate them. They just don’t make me super happy in any way aside from their color.
First of all the fabric is a bit thicker with more of a cottony feel to it, which isn’t my preference. I’m into the sleeker mega stretchy tech fabrics so this just isn’t my jam. They definitely run SMALL as is normal for Equiline, these are an I-42 and are definitely snug. The little styling details are cute, with the pocket flaps on the back and signature Equiline pocket square and leg triangle thingy, but what kills me with these is the rise. They’re just like… a half inch to an inch shorter than I want them to be, and for some reason they really just want to climb right up into my crotch. Like…. there’s a borderline camel toe situation when I get off the horse. Also the front pockets are too small for me to securely fit my phone into, which is problematic for me.
They’re fine in the way that I’ll probably keep them and wear them occasionally to get my green fix until I find something I actually love in this shade, but would I buy more Equilines? No. I have to be honest, I don’t get the obsession with them. I much prefer the Quur knockoff. A very rare win for my wallet.
I feel like things are a little bit boring around here lately. Which is fine because next week is set to be busy, and maybe the next month or so really, so it’s like the calm before the storm. The calm is just… kind of boring.
We did get some rain though, which might be the most exciting thing that’s happened in the past week. (this is how you know it’s a bit of a boring time)
We got almost 3″ last week, and despite not getting it for as many days as predicted, things have already started to green up significantly in the past few days. My happiness level goes up in direct correlation with how much green grass there is. We did lose a big beautiful tree though, which was very sad. Luckily it fell in probably the best possible place, missing the trailers or any structures. It did fall on top of the arena drag but thankfully it’s unharmed.
so sad, poor tree
I’ve already got a big tree in the back that fell during the summer that is set to be repurposed as a jump so this one won’t meet the same fate. I hate losing these trees, they’re part of what makes this place so pretty (“oaks” is in the name of the farm for a reason).
With all the rain Henry ended up getting a few days off, which he didn’t seem to mind. He’s working on his winter bod. Yesterday I took him out in the back for a little hack around and he was absolutely WILD, which is always a good thing, IMO. Keeping this horse happy and feeling good is all I really care about when it comes to him.
He’s real borderline with needing to be body clipped but I was really hoping to wait a couple more weeks. We’ll see how he survives the 88-90 degree high temps this week. I might cave sooner.
I really want to get back to exploring all the RideIQ lessons with him (they add more every week and it’s AWESOME, there’s so many on my list to try) but at this point I’ve conceded the fact that it’ll probably have to wait until I get back from Maryland and we return to our regular routine. Unless it wants to rain some more, which I’d be totally fine with. The ground is much improved though with the rain we did get so hopefully I can jump him some this week. I have him entered in a little DerbyCross type thing towards the end of the month that we can maybe – fingers crossed – actually make it to.
Let’s see, what else. Oh, I got more additions for my tack trunk sticker collection, plus some decals (peep the helmet poms on the rider, how’s that for detail?) from HB Equine Designs. Highly recommend.
The mare glare sticker is on point for Henny
In non-horse related stuff, I went into a store this weekend with the SO to get some Halloween shit I wanted (it’s my favorite holiday, leave me alone), and I stumbled on the coolest faux leather jacket for a ridiculously good price. I couldn’t pass it up, it just spoke to me. Except I don’t really know how to dress, much less style anything, so I don’t have a clue how I’m going to wear it. Shoes, shirt underneath, jeans… I dunno. Hurts my brain just thinking about it. I’ve done some googling for ideas because that’s the level I’m at. The jacket is rad though, no matter what. Surely it can carry whatever bad outfit I put with it?
Last but not least, I completed two more Airrosti appointments last week and go for my very last one tomorrow. I have to say, my back pain has been slim to none since I started, and when I have had little flare-ups, doing the specific things they showed me has always helped resolve it. I’ve also learned a lot about how my different parts work together, how to isolate certain muscles, and have really worked on targeting the weak areas. I see improvement for sure and have a new awareness of how all these parts work together (for better or worse). My hamstrings are still shit, and we’ve worked on those the past couple sessions, but overall it’s better.
Once my Airrosti experience is wrapped up and I get a couple weeks on the other side of things just trying to maintain it on my own, I’ll have to do a full write up of my thoughts and opinions. It’s too early to say at this point really if it’ll make a difference long-term, but it’s trending positive.
Fair warning, I’ll be away all next week so the blog will be on hiatus. I’m not dead, I’m just flying to Florida next Monday and then up to Maryland on Wednesday through the following Monday. Ample notice. I don’t have many post ideas for this week though, honestly, so if there’s something you want me to write about, drop it in the comments and I’ll try to put something together.
breedrideevent.com 